Iran, Russia Coordinate Efforts on Caspian Sea Legal Regime
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Diplomats from Iran and Russia discussed the latest results of five-party talks on drafting a convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea, and coordinated efforts for success of an upcoming Caspian Sea summit meeting, due to be held in Kazakhstan.
Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia and Pacific Affairs Ebrahim Rahimpour, who is also the country’s special envoy for Caspian affairs, held a meeting with Igor Bratchikov, head of Russia’s delegation to the multilateral talks on the Caspian Sea, in Russia.
The two diplomats reviewed the latest achievements of the political talks among the five Caspian Sea littoral states –Iran, Russia, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan- on a final convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea.
They also discussed the agreements reached at the most recent ministerial meeting of the Caspian states in Astana, and weighed plans for successful holding of the summit meeting of Caspian Sea littoral countries, due to be convened in Kazakhstan.
The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed water body on earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea.
The Caspian Sea Convention will determine the territorial rights of littoral states as well as other matters related to the world's largest landlocked body of water.
The Caspian Sea legal regime is based on two agreements signed between Iran and the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1921 and 1940. The three new littoral states, established after the collapse of the Soviet Union, have not recognized the prior treaties, triggering a debate on the future status of the sea.
